Wheel pressing apparatus



y 1960 K. T. SORENSEN 2,934,819

- WHEEL PRESSING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 8, 1955 4 Sheets$heet 1 ATTORNEY 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 3, 1960 K. T. SORENSEN WHEEL PRESSING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 8, 1955 1: {1L AMT an INVENTOR.

KRESTEN T. SORENSEN y r I I I I I I l l l II h A TTORNE) May 3, 196.0 K. T. SORENSEN WHEEL PRESSING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 8, 1955 INVENTOR.

KRESTEN 7'. SORENSEN A T TORNE) May 3, 1960 K. SORENSEN WHEEL PRESSING APPARATUS 4,SheetsSheet 4 Filed Dec. 8, 1955 INVENTOR.

KRESTEN 7'. SORWSE/V ATTORNEY Unite WHEEL PRESSING APPARATUS Kres'ten T. Sorensen, Media, Pa., assignor to Baldwin- Lima-Hamilton Corporation, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 8, 1955, Serial No. 551,826

3 Claims. (Cl. 29-252) lowered the wheels on to the floor and the finished wheel and axle assembly rolled away on a run-out track. These operations were not only time-consuming but had certain inherent dangers to the workmen in handling the loose equipment and required a maximum number of operators.

It is an object of my invention to provide improved apparatus for mounting railway wheels on axles with a minimum of time and effort and a maximum of safety to the workmen. V

Another object is to provide an improved wheel mounting apparatus that avoids the need for an elevator pit beneath the Wheel press and whose component elements are not only relatively simple in operation and maintenance, considering the operations performed thereby, but are so constructed and arranged as to have a high degree of ruggedness to withstand the very heavy nature of the product and work performed thereon, all of which is accomplished with maximum flexibility and efiiciency in handling the initially loosely mounted wheel and axle assembly at an assembly station and of transferring the assembly to the wheel press for final pressing of the assembly toward the wheel press die;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of the plan view shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of my wheel mounting apparatus but omitting the wheel press and certain other elements and being partly broken away to show details of construction.

' Fig. is a transverse section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a front view of the wheel press shown diagrammatically with a wheel assembly positioned therein; and

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view through the transverse carriage to show its relation to the wheel press dolly andtaken substantially on the line of 3.

As shown in Fig. 1, a group of parallel, horizontally disposed, axles 1 are mounted upon storage rack rails 2 and an individual axle 3 is fed from the group, by mechanism to be described later, to be supported at a height slightly above the wheel pressing height of the press. The operator 4 then loosely places wheels 5 and 6 upon the ends of axle 3 by the use of usual hoists 2 whereupon a transfer carriage, generally indicated at 7, is moved to a position beneath axle 3 to allow it to be deposited on to the carriage. The carriage then moves forwardly on rails Band on to a pair of dollies 9 and 10 which are sidewise movable within channeltracks 11 and 12. The dollies are so located that the axle will be in alignment with usual and well known pressing yokes 15 and plugs 16 of the wheel press generally indicated at 18. One of the yokes may be swung laterally and the plugsmay be air operated, all in the customary and well known manner in wheel pressing operations. The details of construction of the wheel press are so well known and also is not, per se, a part of my present invention except in the broad combination of elements, that it is not necessary to further describe the wheel press.

The wheel and axle assembly station comprises, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, a pair of arms 19 secured together by a cross shaft 2%) suitably journalled in vertical end frames 21. The forward end of the arms are curved upwardly to provide stops for an individual axle when it rolls forwardly on the arms. Projecting rearwardly from the arms are main stop portions or means 22 which move upwardiy to the dotted line position 23 to stop the group of axles when they roll to the position 24. An air cylinder and piston 25 are respectively pivotally connected to one of the arms 22 and to the base 26. When the arms 19 are in their horizontal position the axle which was at position 24 rolls to the end of the arms .19 but during this time it is necessary to hold back the remaining axles stored on the rack rails 2 and, when the axle 3 is lowered to the transfer carriage it is necessary to release the group of axles and allow them to roll to position 24 against the main stop arms 22. To accomplish this successive individual feeding of the axles I provide secondary stops 2% formed on bell crank arms 29 secured to a common cross shaft 30 which is journalled in the end frames 21. The lower end of these arms have rollers 31 which ride upon a cam surface 32 of the stop arms 22. When the secondary stop 28 is in its top position the roller 31 has engagement with the main upper portion of the cam surface 32 and upon upward movement of arms 22 the roller rides inwardly upon a sharply inclined lower portion 33 of the cam surface thereby allowing secondary stop 28 to drop to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3 whereupon the entire group of stored axles may roll forward to the position 24. Thus it is seen that when the main stop arm 22 is lowered its top portion releases the axle located in position 24 and the cam surface 32 causes the bell crank arm 30 to move its secondary stop 28 upwardly ahead of the next axle. A suitable piston and cylinder air cushion 35 is provided for the arms 19, 22, while any suitable type of air valve controls operation of the motor 25. Broadly, it is seen that the main and secondary stop means, with their alternate stopping operations, provides what is herein called an escapement feeding mechanism.

The transfer carriage, as shown in Fig. 3, comprises a channel 36 at the forward end and preferably an H-beam 37 at its rear end, connected together, as shown in Fig. 4, by longitudinal side members 38 and 39. This rectangular frame has a forward axle 40 on which a pair of wheels 41 are mounted while a pair of rear wheels 42 are journalled, as shown in Fig. 7, on individual axles 43 supported in suitable brackets connected to the carriage frame. A pair of pivotal fork arms 44 and 45 are secured to a transverse sleeve 46 which is journalle'd upon a stationary rod 47 connected at its ends to brackets 48 extending upwardly from the sides of the carriage frame. To swing the fork arms downwardly so as to lower a pressed axle and wheel assembly, or to subsequently raise the arms to receive a loose assembly of wheels and axle, I provide two sets of arms 49 secured to sleeve 46 and connected by two links 50 to a crosshead 51. This crosshead is s'lidably supported upon an angular member 52 extending between and secured to the end members 38 and 39 of the carriage frame. The crosshead in turn is connected to a piston rod 53 whose piston operates within a hydraulic cylinder 54 which is suitably secured to the H-member 37. An adjustable screw 56 is mounted in the angular member 52 for engagement with the front end of crosshead 51 which determines the height to which 'the fork arms may be raised, such as to the pressing posi the dollies 9 and ltl, Fig. 2. To move the carriage back and forth, Fig. 3, a piston rod 59 of suitable length is vreciprocated by an air cylinder and piston generally indicated at 60. The forward end of the piston rod is provided with a wheeled crosshead 61 which, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, runs in a trackway formed, preferably, of two opposed channel irons 62 suitably anchored in the floor and transversely spaced apart, Figs. 3 and 5, so that a finger 63 may extend upwardly from the crosshead to within the lower channel 64 of H-beam 37 thereby to engage the flanges of this channel to move the transfer carriage back and forth along its trackway 8. This lower channel 64 also performs the function of allowing the transfer carriage to move in a transverse or sidewise direction when the carriage moves sidewise after it is moved on to the dollies 9 and and the pressing operation takes place. Thus the operative connection between the carriage and power operated finger is maintained at all times regardless of the flexible relationship that exists during operation. 7

The dollies, as shown in Figs. 3 and 7, each comprise an elongated member 66 having two pairs of wheels 67 and 68 which run in channel tracks 11 and 12. The ends of the dolly members 66 are provided with small track portions 71 of the same gage as tracks 8 so as to receive the transverse carriage wheels 41 and 42. The dolly channel tracks extend only between a pair of runout tracks 72. The transfer carriage track ways have, as shown in Fig. 2, portions 73 extending between the two dolly channel tracks whereby the front wheels of the transfer carriage may move on to the front dolly 10.

After the transfer carriage is supported on the front and rear dollles the dollies and transfer carriage may move sideways as a unit during which time the finger 63 and lower channel 64, Fig. 3, have relative sidewise move- 7 ment while maintaining their operative relationship. The need for sidewise movement of the transfer carriage arises from the well known operation of wheel presses whereby when the loose wheel and axle assembly is moved into the wheel press it is customary to press one wheel on to the axle and then the other wheel, this operation requiring the wheel and axle assembly to shift sidewise in one direction or the other as the case may .be. Heretofore this sideway shifting of the wheel and axle assembly has been accomplished by the use of a dolly structure upon which the wheel and axle assembly was rolled directly from the floor followed by lifting of the dolly trackway together with the dolly and the wheel axle whereas in the complete specific combination of .my present invention I mount the wheel and axle assembly at its pressing height on the transfer carriage at the assembling station A and then move the carriage with 4 its own axle lowering mechanism on to the dolly. By having the lowering mechanism formed as part of the transfer carriage and by previously arranging the pressing height at the assembling station it is seen that I completely eliminate the deep pit which has heretofore been used with previous dolly arrangements.

However, in the broader aspects of my invention, I am able to employ, if desired, only part of the elements of my combination and still obtain advantages not heretofore possible in wheel pressing operations. For instance, the transfer carriage and dollies constitute a unit during the pressing operation and because of the power lifting mechanism also being a part of such unit, it is seen that these elements can remain in the press as though they were a part thereof. In this case, if a special wheel pressing operation were required for, say, only one axle, the semi-automatic assembling operation could be omitted and the wheels and axle loosely assembled as in the prior practice and rolled over the floor to the press. The axle-supporting arms 44 and 44 would then be lowered, by controlling the hydraulic motor 54, to receive the axle and wheels which would then be lifted to pressing height.

The sidewise movement of the dollies and carriage would then be the same as previously described and the hydraulic motor '54 would be operated to effect positioning of the pressed axle and wheels on to the floor. In utilizing the dollies and carriage as a part of the press as just described, it is readily apparent that my assembling station apparatus can be used at the same by providing a suitable conveyor for transferring the loosely assembled Wheels and axle from the assembling station to the pressing station where the wheels and axle assembly would then be handled by the lifting arms of the combined carriage-dolly unit.

Operation In the usual operation of my invention the transfer carriage 7 is moved to its dotted line position shown in .Fig. 3 with its forked arms 44 and 45. rotated upwardly to a position such that when an axle is supported in the arms it will be at the right wheel press height. With the arms Hand 45 now positioned beneath an axle 3 which is. at aiheight slightly above the wheel press height the operator will actuate piston and cylinder motor 25 to rotate .arms 19 downwardly to their dotted line po sition 78, Fig. 3, thereby depositing axle 3 upon the cradle ends77 of the transfer arms 44 and 45 and at the same time cause the turned up ends of arms 22 to be positioned low-enough to clear the axle 3 when it moves forwardly with the carriage. Thereupon the air piston and cylinder motor 60 will move the transfer carriage forwardly until it is supported upon the dollies 9 and 16. The wheel pressing operation then takes place with sidewise movement of the carriage and dollies as a unit. After the pressing operation the carriage is centrally positioned so that the hydraulic piston and cylinder motor 54 may be operated to lower arms 44 and 45 and deposit the completed wheel assembly upon the fioor, specifically on the runout tracks 72. I The hand pump 57 will then be operated to raise the arms 44 and 45 to their upper position. When the axle 3 was deposited upon the arms 44 and 45 at the assembly station there was no axle at the dotted line position 24 because of the secondary stop 28 holding back the group of stored axles. However, during lowering of axle 3 the main stop arms 22 were raised to the dotted line position 23 and the secondary .stop 28 was lowered to its dotted line position by reason of cam roller 31 riding on the sharply inclined cam 33 thereby releasing the whole group of stored axles which will nowroll forwardly until stopped by arms 22. After the transfer carriage has moved forwardly with its axle 3 the operator will raise the arms 19 and accordingly lower the stop arms'22 whereupon the axle at position 24 will roll forwardly to the ends of arms 19 it being understood that the surfaces along which the axles'roll are inclined slightly downwardly so that the axles roll automatically when released by their various stops.

From the foregoing disclosure it is seen that I have provided an extremely effective combination of elements whereby axles may be individually fed to a transfer mechanism at substantially the proper height for the pressing operation whereby wheels may be loosely placed on the axle for transfer as a unit to the press. During the pressing operation the tranfser carriage and wheel assembly remain as a unit which is bodily shifted sidewise during a pressing operation. Thus, during the entire assembly and pressing operation the wheels and axles are mechanically handled throughout making it unnecessary to manually roll them around on the floor which requires not only labor but involves an inherent danger. In the entire operation only two men are required, one at the assembly station for preparing one set of axles and wheels and another man for operating the press to press the wheels on the previously prepared axle and wheel set. It is unnecessary for the operators to move away from their stations such as was heretofore necessary. While wheels have been referred to as being pressed on to the axles it will be understood that this terminology broadly includes any other elements such as roller bearing journal boxes, wheel sets having socalled Spicer drivers, etc. The axle supporting arms 44 and 45 by being laterally spaced are in the nature of a fork which permits spanning a Spicer driver. The carriage, as shown particularly in Figs. 4 and 6, is offset from the axle center so as to permit pressing on of wheel sets provided with gears such as are used in locomotives employing electrical drives.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for pressing wheels on an axle comprising, in combination, a wheel press, a transfer carriage movable into the press and having arms pivoted thereon for supporting a loose wheel and axle assembly above a floor and within the press at pressing height, a wheeled dolly onto which the carriage is movable so that the dolly together with the carriage and the loose wheel and axle assembly thereon are movable in a sidewise direction during a pressing operation, and a servo-motor also carried by said carriage for movement therewith as a unitary part thereof for effecting pivotal movement of said axle supporting arms for lowering the wheel and axle assembly to the fioor upon completion of the pressing operation.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 further characterized in that the servo-motor includes hydraulic piston and cylinder elements respectively having operative connections with said carriage and with said pivotal arms for effecting pivotal movement thereof.

3. Apparatus for pressing wheels on an axle comprising, in combination, a wheel press, dolly means disposed within the press and being movable in a sidewise direction, a transfer carriage initially separate from the dolly means so that the carriage may carry a loose wheel and axle assembly at substantially pressing height and be moved onto said dolly means so as to be carried thereby, whereby during the pressing operation the dolly means and transfer carriage carried thereby together with the wheel and axle assembly move as a unit in a sidewise direction during the pressing operation, and operating means carried by and movable with the transfer carriage as a self-contained part thereof for raising and lowering the axle supporting means whereby the loose axle and wheel assembly may be positioned at a wheel pressing height within the press and upon completion of the pressing operation the wheel and axle assembly may be lowered to a floor to be rolled away from the press.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 418,373 Libbey Dec. 31, 1889 504,030 Gordon Aug. 29, 1893 959,071 Reiss May 24, 1910 1,054,557 Jensenius Feb. 25, 1913 1,196,963 Mahr Sept. 5, 1916 2,352,726 Maulding July 4, 1944- 2,611,579 Guzey et al Sept. 23, 1952 2,638,662 Rothwell May 19, 1953 2,710,104 Putnam June 7, 1955 

